Well yes and no.? You’d want to take the STL files and expand them by about 3% to 5% to deal with shrinkage.? Next using the lost PLA process you’d have to cover them in a silica plaster mix and build that up and then heat that to melt out the PLA.? Finally pour in the metal.? Then wash away that slica plaster.

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What you are left with is theoretically an image of the PLA print.?? Most of the youtube videos show that these aren’t the prettiest parts by any stretch sometimes with a few bubbles and flaws.?

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Using them as patterns instead is a whole different story.? Youi need draft or taper, room for shrinkage and the sides that get pulled have to be super smooth or it will pull the sand with it.? That means body filler, sanding, primer filler, and paint.? A lot of work.

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I’ve attached a number of photos that show the process to the point of pulling the pattern from the sand.? It’s a lot of work.

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John Dammeyer

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